THE VALE OF MANLY.
Sweet Vale of Manly! when the eye first lights
With fire more pure, beholding all thy charms—
And when the murmuring lips, compelled, proclaim
In words inaudible, but most intense,
Thy hundred beauties ; when with lingering gaze
Enchanted vision rests on every scene
By fav'ring Nature formed on plan for thee
And only thee, with skill unequalled wrought;
How many musings all with grace suffused,
Proportioned to the view, crowd on the mind!
The gently-sloping plain whereon—like robe
Of green, with mimic blossoms strewn—close set
The foliage and the flowers commingle;
The unobtrusive stream that courts the shade
Suggestive of the chain of pearl that finds
'Mid golden curls a nest wherefrom it peeps
With timid glance, as fearful lest it lose
Its pleasant home; these and unnumbered charms
Beside, in sep'rate order rise to hold.
Like bird in beauty's bower, the Fancy caged.
